A Heavy Heart

It is with a heavy heart that I update this blog. We got a call from our agency late last week notifying us that the Korean agency they work with declined to accept us. They don’t want to work with a family where one of the parents has been diagnosed with ADD, even when it is as mild as Tom’s condition. Our agency rep, Abbe, was sympathetic, but I was crushed and it was a hard weekend for all of us. I’m still not sure how to process all of this. I spoke with our agency again today, and Abbe assured me that although there is no way to appeal this decision, there are other programs that could work for us. However, Tom and I took a look at CHSFS’ other international programs this weekend, and for various reasons, we don’t feel comfortable with any of them.

So we are turning our sights towards domestic adoption. We’ve been hesitant to do any serious research into it before, because we truly felt called towards an international adoption, and Korea fit so well into our lives. I’ve requested information from a few domestic agencies, and we’ll see what they have to say. I’m a little apprehensive about how some agencies will react to Tom being in the military and the fact that we already have three children, but I know there are good agencies out there that will work with us. At times this all seems so overwhelming–I truly believed that this research phase was behind us for good! I’m still very saddened by the outright rejection from the Korean agency, and I find it frustrating and confusing. How can they ignore our obvious connection to their country? How can they agree to work with people with minor criminal backgrounds, but refuse a stable, loving family where one of the parents just happens to have a mild concentration issue? I doubt I’ll ever understand. I will just keep praying that we have the perserverance and strength to continue on this quest for a daughter.